Houston voters get their final say today

Mayoral runoff is at the top of the list

Published 6:30 am, Saturday, December 12, 2009

Carol Johnson, the election judge who will be in charge of Precincts 56 and 120 at Shadow Oaks Elementary School, works Friday on putting together voting booths.

Carol Johnson, the election judge who will be in charge of Precincts 56 and 120 at Shadow Oaks Elementary School, works Friday on putting together voting booths.

Photo: Julio Cortez, Chronicle

Houston voters get their final say today

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Houstonians are at the polls today, casting their ballot for the next mayor, a new controller and at least three new City Council members.

More than 68,000 voters already have cast ballots during the nine-day early-voting period.

Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman projects that about 112,000 people will vote today in elections that also include two Bellaire City Council seats and two seats on the board of the Houston Independent School District. That would improve turnout over last month's elections, but not enough for Kaufman.

“If the turnout is what we're talking about, it's still low, and that's disappointing,” she said. “When fewer than 50 percent of the voters participate, then ‘None-of-the-above' wins, and we don't like to see that.”

On the ballot today:

Former City Attorney Gene Locke squares off against Controller Annise Parker for mayor, while term-limited City Council members Ronald Green and M.J. Khan vie for controller.

Kaufman offered a few reminders. All registered voters in Houston, the school district or Bellaire can vote; they need not have cast ballots last month. If you did vote last month, your polling place may have changed, so double-check. Also, don't assume an early-voting location will be your polling place today.

Today's elections are runoffs to settle Nov. 3 contests in which no candidate received a majority of votes. The mayoral contest has dominated the 5½ weeks since. Locke and Parker are competing to succeed Bill White, who will leave office because of term limits.

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